142 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



THE DISTRIBUTION OF AGARICS. 



SOME REMARKS ON THEIR EDIHILITV. 



R. Hare's paper on edible Agarics 

 (Feb., 1901) is interesting- as show- 

 ing the irregularity of the distribu- 

 tion of species of this class of plant, 

 than which no other is more cosmopolitan. 

 Besides the "fairy-ring," [M. Oreades Bolt), 

 there are seven other species of Marasmius 

 not rare in this part of the province, but I 

 have never seen a living specimen of the 

 acrid one {M. urens Bull.) against which Dr. 

 Hare cautions the collector of "fairy-rings." 

 Prof. Peck does not report it in New York 

 State ; Mr. Morgan finds it in Ohio. 



The other species which collectors of ' 'fairy- 

 rings" are cautioned against, Naucoria Semi- 

 orbicularis, Bull., and which Dr. Hare says 

 he has not found around Whitby, is common 

 here. It may be seen in almost every old 

 pasture in warm damp weather in June and 

 is quite likely to be found near to or among 

 "fairy- rings." Its gills are rust-colored, its 

 cap is quite thin and its taste is suggestive 

 of stale beech nuts. 



Dr. Hare's paper is interesting also as be- 

 ing the first Canadian record of St. George's 

 mushroom {Tricholoma Gambosuni Fr.) The 

 tricholomas are numerous in our latitude ; 

 Prof. Peck reports over fifty species in New 

 York State, three of them being recommend- 

 ed as edible — indeed none of them are known 

 to be poisonous— but his lists do not include 

 T. Ganibosimt. It ought to be easily recog- 

 nized from Dr. Hare's description. Dr. M. 

 C. Cooke says of it that its odor is so strong 

 that workmen employed in cleaning it out of 

 English lawns have been obliged to desist, 

 ^'overpowered by the heavy disagreeable 

 odor." It would be interesting to discover 

 how the species reached the Whitby College 

 grounds. Possibly the mycelium may have 



come among the roots of shrubs or plants 

 from Europe. 



In speaking of the properties of fleshy 

 fungi, a distinction, if possible, should be 

 made between those thatare merely disagree- 

 able or indigestible and those containing 

 some poisonous alkaloid which enters the 

 circulation. The same species seems to vary 

 in the strength of its deleterious and other 

 qualities according to soil and situation and 

 probably age. I have received from Gait 

 and Woodstock samples of Lepiota 7iaucin- 

 oides Pk. taken from collections of that 

 species alleged to have caused very serious 

 nausea and vomiting. Most eaters of that 

 species, so far as I know, have always en- 

 joyed it. Again, certain fleshy fungi that 

 are innocuous to most persons act, by a sort 

 of auto-intoxication, as a poison in other 

 stomachs. As an example of this, a 

 woman at Aylmer was fatally poisoned 

 a few years ago from eating Gyromitra 

 esculenta Fr. while at the same time 

 several other persons who had eaten 

 more freely suffered no ill effects. As its 

 name implies this species is regarded as 

 esculent the world over and it is one that 

 cannot be mistaken for any other. These 

 and other instances that might be added 

 teach the lesson that it is wise to partake 

 sparingly at first of any new kind of mush- 

 room or toadstool. It is better to leave 

 them all severely alone than to eat an 

 amanita verna for example by mistake. 



In his future papers it is to be hoped that 

 Dr. Hare will add after the account of each 

 species such culinary notes as the one with 

 which he closes the paragraph on the mea- 

 dow mushroom. "Fairy-rings" may be 

 cooked so as to be very delicious or they 



